Robert Henry Locke 1881-1969

Robert Henry Locke (1881–1969)

Robert Henry Locke was born on 22 April 1881 at Edith Weston, Rutland, the son of John William Lock and Agnes Clarke. His birth was registered in the Oakham Registration District during the second quarter of 1881, and he was baptised at Edith Weston on 26 June 1881.

Robert spent his childhood in Edith Weston. The 1891 census records him as a nine-year-old scholar living with his parents. By 1901, aged nineteen, he had left home and was employed as a horsekeeper on a farm at Harringworth, Northamptonshire.

Before his marriage, banns were published in the parish church at Harringworth on 21 April, 28 April, and 5 May 1901. He married Fanny Lucy Joyce at Harringworth on 15 May 1901. The couple had four known children:

• John William Lock
• Margery Lucy Lock
• George Edward Henry Lock
• Arthur Ernest Lock

The 1911 census records Robert as the head of the household at Harringworth. He was described as a widower, aged twenty-nine, and employed as a waggoner on a farm. Fanny had died sometime between the birth of their youngest child and the 1911 census.

Robert married for a second time on 26 October 1912 at the Register Office, Uppingham, to Lizzie Harris. They had three children:

• Dorothy Mabel Locke
• Robert Edward Locke
• Herbert Cyril Lock

By the time of the 1921 census, Robert was again living at Harringworth with his family. Aged forty, he was employed as a farm labourer by Mr. A. A. Clarke, a local farmer. The census records that five children under the age of sixteen were living in the household.

The 1939 Register shows Robert and Lizzie residing at 12 Harringworth. Robert was employed as a roadman by Northamptonshire County Council, maintaining the local roads.

Robert Henry Locke died on 2 September 1969 at 12 Shotley, Harringworth, Northamptonshire. His death certificate records his name as Robert Henry Locke, confirming the spelling of the family surname. He was buried at Harringworth on 5 September 1969. His death was registered in the Oundle Registration District, giving his date of birth as 22 April 1881.

Throughout his life, Robert appears in surviving records under several variations of his surname, including Lock, Locke, Robert H. Lock, Robert A. Lock, and Robert Henry Lock, reflecting the inconsistent spelling commonly found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century records.

Robert is also remembered in The Harringworth Millennium Book, compiled by Carol Harding and published by Spiegl Press in 2001. Describing village life during the early 1950s, the book recalls that Harringworth still lacked many modern amenities, with many cottages having neither electricity nor mains water. It notes that Northamptonshire County Council employed “Bob Lock” as the village roadman, whose duties included collecting night soil from cottages and sweeping the roads. Carrying buckets suspended from a yoke across his shoulders, he transported the waste to Dag Lane for disposal. The book also records that Robert lived in Post Cottage and remained remarkably active well into his eighties, still helping Arthur Scholes in his garden during the mid-1960s. This account provides a valuable glimpse into both Robert’s working life and the conditions experienced in rural Northamptonshire during the post-war years.